— 7 Days until the 1-month deadline —

After receiving the task from Count Julian Moore to find an alternative to Coal power using green methods, Vivian tasked all the affiliated scientists with the mission of trying to produce Direct current generators.

Knowing the difficulty of what she was asking for, Vivian had to dust off all the otherworldly knowledge in Nadia's memories and started to work on the project herself. She left the management of the company to Oscar Mason and the gun development project to Jane and Voros, who have recently succeeded in creating the rifling grooves in gun barrels and are now working on enhancing the equipment they use to create new guns.

As for the electricity research, Vivian put effort along with the scientists until they reached the point where the first homopolar generator (Faraday Disk), the first successful yet the weakest version of the DC generator.

This was the first huge step taken towards the modern dynamo and the scientist on the team wanted to attribute it to Vivian who refused such an attribution as all her contributions were only theoretical advice. However since this generator had a very weak voltage, the team started to work on expanding it immediately and even made a few more generators in series to make a more powerful current.

Vivian also worked on more electric conductivity technologies since most of the scientists were using exposed wirings and hard conductors. By hiring a few artisans and metal workers to create proper electrical wires of various sizes, the development speed was boosted on a scale that the theoretical science was struggling to keep up with the applications.

— 6 Days until the 1-month deadline —

As six days remained, Vivian was confident that Professor Bellfield and his team were going to make it in a day or two especially now that the laboratory the work in is completely lit with Light Bulbs.

It was a weird paradox to many of the scientists why Vivian helped create an invention that is not supported by today's level of electrical technology yet she was the core figure in developing the DC generators on such a rapid scale. Some of them started to even joke about how she was a traveler from the future, which terrified Vivian and made her decide to take a hands-off approach to the current project.

At ViTech headquarters, Vivian encountered Professor Fritz Hansen, a scientist working on a separate project known as Project Melody. Professor Hansen, a skilled technician from Buren, held teaching positions at the second and third royal academies in Elgard and was Jane's teacher for two semesters. Vivian had generously funded Professor Hansen's research which she was most excited for and took the same approach she had taken with Professor Bellfield with him.

Project Melody, however, needed the interference of many other experts from various fields but it was rather in a late stage of development since Vivian had been focusing on it right after introducing the Light Bulb to the public two weeks ago.

— 5 Days until the 1-month deadline —

Vivian's work expanded to many fields, chemistry included, and since the Moore Conglomerate had a large line of chemical industries, Vivian wanted to use that to expand on a few different ideas.

The first idea Vivian worked on in this field was Friction Matches which can be used for ignition. Vivian had a chemist working as an assistant in Jane's team and she convinced him to make a mixture of potassium chlorate with siliceous, a little sulfur, and starch. The idea took the young man some time to develop but with the right funding and in a week's time, he managed to find the right formula for the friction matches that ignite against red phosphorus-based striking surfaces.

Vivian helped issue a patent for the young man and contacted the Moore Conglomerate right away to plan the launch of the new product. Safety was important, especially when working with chemicals, and many chemists from the conglomerate came over to ViTech's headquarters to discuss the safety of the new production line.

After discussing with them, Vivian found that they cared little for the safety of the environment or the workers, which sparked her enthusiasm to send word to her father to open an investigation in the Chemical Industries department to fortify the safety measures and technologies and boost the image of the Conglomerate.

The replies that came from her father were even better than she anticipated. He told her that he will not only launch an investigation, he will make the House of Lords sign on new laws for industrial safety and environmental protection but she has to rush the production of those safety technologies in order to be ready once the law is issued.

This made Vivian rush over to Professor Anesly Graham, who was working on the idea for the Industrial-grade filters for the Smokestacks for the factories. While Vivian was the one to promote such an idea and convinced the professor to abandon her current project to produce Paraffin, she noticed that Professor Graham had actually started working enthusiastically on the project along with a colleague of hers, Professor Gerald Hopps, who is a chemist and a technician.

Their efforts led to the creation of a theoretical plan for a large compartment that could be installed on top of factories to filter the heavy smog from the smokestacks and reduce the toxicity of the fumes.

Vivian enticed Professor Graham to be more enthusiastic about this project since if it succeeds, she could be the sole manufacturer of industrial-grade waste filters and if the new environmental law was passed by the House of Lords, every factory out there would come running to purchase waste filters from her. If this wasn't enough to make Professor Graham finish this project and make her work on it like mad, nothing else will.

As a nobleman, Count Julian Moore was a man of his word and he put the Law to a vote in the House of Lords. At first, the opposition was greater than what he thought possible but when he stated that this technology would boost the prices of the real estate in the impoverished districts, the attitude of those crafty lords changed completely.

Currently, any residential area within the proximity of any large factory is dirt cheap and can be compared to a slum. However, if this environmental law truly succeeds in making the area cleaner, the price of the land will soar. That's why the Lords asked Count Julian to postpone the idea until it is reviewed by the Committee of Natural Resources, which is a bullshit move for them to stall for enough time until they buy as much property as possible for dirt-cheap prices and make a profit from them when the Law is passed.

As for Vivian, she blocked one of the routes the Heroine can use to cause disturbance to Count Julian and the Moore Conglomerate. By posing as the good samaritans who want to preserve nature and save the environment, the reputation of the Moores will be on the rise.

On a different note, Vivian received a word from Professor Gerald Hopps about something Vivian had inspired him about, which was the carbonization process. Professor Hopps was the other chemist expert aside from Professor Graham to be on Vivian's side but unlike the strict and pragmatic Professor Graham, he was a happy-go-lucky old man who liked to play pranks and make others laugh.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Of course, he is a very knowledgeable man but is way past his prime and likes to take things slow.

Understanding his attitude, Vivian pushed an idea to him when they conversed during the Light Bulb reveal party and she made his head busy with this carbonization of water and he discovered how to utilize carbon dioxide to create artificial sparkling mineral water. The process was still costly and inefficient but it was all that Vivian needed.

Vivian then started working on her own and added sweetener and various flavors to the artificially created waters and what came out was going to be known as the Hopps Beverage, or simply Hopps, throughout the years, which became the world's first carbonated soft drink.

— 4 Days until the 1-month deadline —

That day was no ordinary day. Vivian had to take a break from ushering in the new era of electricity, environmental safety, fire hazards, and soft drinks. Today was the day she had to answer the invitation of her stepmother to accompany her to the party hosted by Natasha Ivanov, the owner of the Natasha cosmetic brand.

"What are you doing?"

"Hello, stepmother."

"That's a lot of makeup!"

"Isn't tonight all about makeup?"

"And this dress, it is black. Is this what you will be wearing?"

"Indeed. Just ordered it done actually."

"Saints!"

"Something the matter, stepmother?"

"Oh… no! Nothing… nothing at all."

Every hour till now, Saskia was checking on Vivian to make sure that she wouldn't escape the house or something. The funny thing wasn't that Vivian never even thought about escaping but rather heavily investing in preparation for the event and the amount of makeup products she had lying around made Saskia question her sanity.

On top of that, the gown she prepared was something of its own league. It was ordered from Isabella's fashion house rather than the system shop. It can only be described as the epitome of gothic chic. Made from luxurious black velvet, it hugs the figure and flows to a dramatic floor-length hem, often with a trailing trumpet style. Long, form-fitting, with subtle spiderweb lace to complete the mysterious and sophisticated look.

Combined with the pale makeup that focused on defining her porcelain skin and contrasting it with smoky gray contouring to make her face appear longer, as well as the black eyeshadow, dramatic lashes, and sharply angled brows, her gothic glamor was completed to perfection.

She added a deep burgundy lipstick to complete the look, making her appear both alluring and haunting.

As a tall girl, Vivian didn't need high heels but she insisted on the highest possible heel she could get her hands on… or her feet in. A 6-inch black gothic high heel was the final piece to her puzzle.

This was a party thrown by a cosmetics manufacturer and so people would show up with all manner of fancy dresses and exotic makeup styles, especially the young ladies, who were enthralled by Natasha's brand of cosmetics.

Natasha offered a wide array of innovative cosmetics and was considered the largest manufacturer in the Empire, only rivaled by the behemoth giants of the business from central Albion, especially from Velleux, but as the Velleuxan revaluation was still taking its toll on the economy, Natasha's brand was already going through markets it couldn't dream of invading ever before.

These products varied between Foundation Powders made from lead and rice flour, Rouge made of crushed cochineal beetles and brick dust, Cold Cream for moisturizing often made with beeswax and almond oil, Pomades for hair removal and styling containing ingredients like animal fats and lye, Kohl to darken the eyelashes, as well as Simple Balms for moisturizing which came sometimes with a touch of color from natural dyes like beetroot. Other products also included Scented Waters and Pomanders for fragrance, Bath Salts, and Hair Powders and Dyes that usually included lead.

It was worth noting that most of these products included ingredients like lead and mercury in heavier concentrations than that of modern times, something which Vivian was aware of and avoided as much as she could, only applying the things she could be certain of its ingredients and specifically made by her request or from the system's shop.

As for the party itself, Natasha Ivanov seemed to have prepared more than any would even imagine. The extravagance of the rich knew no bounds and Natasha had a legion of maids in exquisite dresses and artistic makeup posing left and right on the rosy walkway in the garden of her villa. They all seemed to be foreigners from Novark, making most of the women attending the party feel like ugly ducklings.

In this atmosphere of glamor and beauty, Vivian walked in like the black swan she fancies herself to be and displayed her femme fatale potential with the black dress. She appeared as feminine as she could and attracted the eyes of all the old and young ladies who attended this gathering that was restricted to females only. In a way, she was asserting her dominance over most of them.

But she wasn't alone as this was the equivalent of the dick-measuring contest performed by the male counterpart of these females and each lady dragged her daughters to this party to vex the other ladies which seemed like a social tradition in this part of the world. It became clear as Saskia had no daughters and Vivian's rising popularity and talent can make Saskia look good one way or another.

"A gothic mommy? I like your style!"

Vivian heard those words all she didn't even need to turn and see who said them. Looking at her, she was in a party gown that resembled many saffron threads gathered together in one beautiful vermillion dress.

"I believe this is from this year's spring collection." Vivian replied.

"You have sharp eyes, my lady." Isabella said and spun around herself making her dress' skirt rise.

It was something of a wonder how many twirls she could fit on one dress and Vivian simply had to shut her analytic brain and appreciate the talent she was looking at.

"That's a lot of exposure for one dress."

This comment would usually come from someone other than Vivian and by looking sideways, it seemed that there was a third lady who joined the scene and had a thing or two to say about Isabella's dress.

Vivian and Isabella turned sideways and had different expressions. Isabella couldn't hide her frown while Vivian had a relaxed smile.

"Well well… if it isn't Edith Black." Isabella said while eyeing Edith from top to bottom, "You raided your grandmother's closet or something?"

"Oh, boy!" Vivian held her head from what was about to happen but still tried to soften the impact of these two running into one another, "It is lovely to see you, Edith."

"Lovely to see you too, Senior… I mean, Vivian." Edith said and then turned to Isabella, "Though I have to say your choice of company is rather…"

"Don't you two start it!" Vivian immediately jumped between the two ladies, "Last I checked, it is your families that have problems with each other, not you, young lovely ladies."

Members of House Black weren't the greatest fans of House De Clare and aside from the bad blood and drama those two had, the Blacks always found fault for the De Clares, and the De Clares being who they are, have always caused troubles for the Blacks. As one house is bound to certain places and another is meant to travel anywhere in the world, it was said that the origin of this situation dated even before the Pact of King Harald when the Blacks almost bankrupted the De Clares which caused the De Clares to retaliate and almost killing off the Blacks.

This was reflected in Edith and Isabella being natural enemies even though it was their first time officially meeting in a large social circle.

For Vivian to manage her best friend from her former life and the first friend she made in this new one, she walked right between the two and locked arms with them.

"I see that the two of you have much in common…"

"How…" "But…"

"Uh! Uh!" As the two were about to interrupt their protests, Vivian didn't let them do that and walked them ahead then asked Isabella, "Who is your favorite person at this party?"

"You." Isabella replied.

"What about you?" She then asked Edith.

"That's a lot of confidence you have there, but you happen to be the only friend I have here so… It's you." Edith replied.

"See? You two just have to love me above all else and you'll find no reason to hate each other. Cheers!"